Chimney-building was by far the most difficult and intricate part of the work. These were built of wood and clay, the base being built of quite large logs, growing smaller as the chimney rose in height, until as it neared completion the sticks were the size of ordinary kindling-wood. As the wood-work was laid it was thickly plastered with clay both inside and out, which soon became as hard as a brick after fires had been kindled in the fire-places.
By the 5th of November many of the huts had been roofed in and were occupied by the men. Improvements, however, were being constantly added, such as securing boards for flooring, and building of bunks one above the other. The making of mattresses, by carefully picking over pine boughs, removing the larger sticks, then with an old blanket covering the boughs and carefully tacking it all around, resulting when finished in a most delightful bed.
The officers' quarters were of course finished before those of the detachments, because they had at their command the whole mechanical ability and muscular strength of the battery, and were occupying their finished huts by the 6th of November.
With perhaps a single exception, the detachments did not occupy theirs, fully completed, until the 13th. Certainly no member of Battery D will fail to recollect that night; seated around those fire-places in which were roaring fires, they gave perfect freedom to their imagination and built castle after castle of great magnificence, in which the certainty of a winter of ease, comfort and happiness predominated. Luxuries were promised, a rumor prevailing that some of our enterprising scientific comrades of the centre section had secured a still, and within a week or two would be prepared to furnish us good Bourbon whiskey, at a moderate advance over the cost of production. We went to bed that night feeling that we had all the comforts of home that a soldier could possibly expect, and were soon lulled to sleep by the contentment of our surroundings, and the delightful aroma of our pine beds.
At daylight on the morning of the 14th we were awakened from a most refreshing sleep by first call, and almost immediately were astonished to hear heavy artillery firing in the direction of Loudon. Each man sat up in bed and looked at his comrade. "What does that mean?" they asked each other.
Just at that moment a member of the detachment who had been on guard entered, and was eagerly plied with questions as to what was up. He could only tell us that there seemed to be considerable commotion among the infantry around us, and that two regiments of cavalry had just passed our camp in the direction of Loudon. Five minutes of such cannonading as we had been listening to convinced us that this was not an ordinary cavalry raid such as we had been engaged in following for the past three months, and our hearts sank within us. Evidently there was trouble ahead.
We were soon dressed, and hurried into line to answer to the assembly call. After roll-call had been completed and the line broken, the buglers were ordered to sound "Boots and saddles," which thoroughly convinced us that we were in for it. Breakfast was hurriedly prepared by the men, and by the time it had been partaken of, the troops in our vicinity were in motion, going in the direction of Loudon. A cold rain which had set in sometime during the night, added much to our depression.
From a despatch-bearer we learned that Gen. Longstreet had been detached from Gen. Bragg's army at Chattanooga and sent north to capture or delay the Army of the Ohio, and was now attempting to cross the Holston River, at Huff Ferry, just below Loudon; in which effort he was being opposed by Gens. Potter and White and part of the Ninth and Twenty-third Corps, with success.
From our information of to-day we know that these generals, together with many others in our army, and also the members of Gen. Burnside's personal staff, believed that it was possible for us to prevent Gen. Longstreet from crossing the river, or even defeat him in battle, and so expressed themselves to Gen. Burnside, who had astonished them by declaring his intention to retreat to Knoxville.
Understanding the plan of Gen. Grant (who had succeeded Gen. Rosecrans in command of the Army of the Cumberland) as he did, he realized that he could do Gen. Grant a greater service by drawing Gen. Longstreet to Knoxville, thus taking him away from Gen. Bragg, and making that general's defeat by Gen. Grant more certain.